The basketballers forging a 'new story' for South Sudan

Having fought through one of the longest civil wars on record, South Sudan’s early history was defined by conflict. But now the youngest nation in the world is forging a new identity through basketball.

Their success has seen the men’s national side, the Bright Stars, book a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics and also come within seconds of a historic win over the United States at the weekend.

Former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Luol Deng has been a major inspiration behind their rise.

“Since I was born, I have known nothing but conversations about war,” Deng, who spent 15 years in the NBA, told BBC Sport Africa.

“Whenever I was in school, even when I was in the NBA, it was always ‘refugees left because of war’ and ‘war-torn country’. Now we are finding a new story.”